Help

No account yet?
Registering is free, easy, and private.
Discuss in the forum, contribute to the Encyclopedia, build your own MyAnime lists, and more.

Gia's List: 7 Anime Characters with Terrible Karma

by Gia Manry, Jan 14th 2012

In theory, good things are supposed to happen to good people, and sometimes they do. But sometimes bad things happen to good people...and sometimes really terrible things happen to people because they did good things. Here are some of the victims who've suffered the worst from bad/"reverse" karma.

7. Machi Kuragi (Fruits Basket)
Machi Kuragi spent most of her early childhood trying to live up to her mother's high expectations, competing with her half-brother Kakeru to see who would become the family heir. In exchange, her mother dropped her like a ton of bricks as soon as Machi's younger brother was born and instantly became the higher priority (presumably due to ranking higher on the heir-to-be list). At one point, Machi attempts to help her baby brother by bringing him a blanket when he seemed cold. In exchange, her mother thinks that Machi was trying to suffocate the baby and kicks her out of the house, forcing Machi to live alone throughout her high school career. Nice.

6. Yusuke Urameshi (Yū Yū Hakusho)
To be totally fair, one of the best things that ever happened to Yusuke Urameshi was being hit by a truck and dying, thus launching the series' plot, which takes place in the boy's afterlife. However, it's still a pretty sad story to anyone in pre-afterlife who doesn't know how it goes: after spending a lifetime being put down because he seems like a delinquent who will never amount to anything, Yusuke flings himself in front of a truck to try to save a young boy, but dies in the process. It was the only good deed he'd ever knowingly done in his life, and he dies for it. And while we don't want to spoil later events, this isn't even the worst example of his karma problems in the series.

5. Teresa (Claymore)
In the world of Claymore, a group of women known as Claymores exist who are half-human, half-yoma, where yoma are horrific demons that slaughter people. The Claymores are more human than their enemies, but it's not an easy life: sure, you get super-strength and super-senses, but also the entire human world completely despises you. Teresa was the strongest of all the Claymores, until she killed a human in order to save a young human girl from a crowd of cruel bandits. The organization that creates Claymores to protect humans from yoma also strictly forbids them from killing humans, and Teresa's slaughter of the bandit troop marks her for death at the hands of the rest of the Claymores.

4. Winry's Parents (Fullmetal Alchemist)Fullmetal Alchemist contains a large number of well-intentioned folks whose comeuppance is undeserved. Automail mechanic Winry may be a major player in Fullmetal Alchemist, but taking a back seat (for the most part) are her parents. (Spoiler alert!) Winry's parents served as doctors during the Ishbal war— but unlike those who took sides, they were willing to treat anyone regardless of their military affiliation, wanting nothing more than to help those in need. For their unbiased kindness, the couple are killed for helping both sides— by one of their patients, no less. That patient, of course, is Scar.

3. The Straw Hat Pirates (One Piece)
To an outsider, it might seem odd that the happy-go-lucky Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat pirates, should somehow have wound up as wanted men and women, especially with such enormous bounties. After all, they're the good guys, and let's face it, they're pretty poor pirates when it comes to thieving and looting. Instead, though, their unintentional but systematic destruction of other pirates, assassins, and other threats land them in increasingly hot water in the eyes of the World Government and the Marines. In fact, the more good that they actually do, saving entire villages and islands and whatnot, the worse their legal situation gets.

2. Kaiji (Kaiji)
At the beginning of Kaiji, the title character is sort of a well-meaning good-for-nothing. Unfortunately, his easy-going attitude results in him co-signing a loan for a friend that turns out to be with less of a real bank and more with a group of extremely creative loan sharks. After the friend skips town, Kaiji is convinced to participate in a gambling boat ride on which he'll play a unique Rock-Paper-Scissors (Jan-Ken-Pon) game, and the result will either be that his debt will be taken care of...or that he'll be sold into slavery at the end. We won't spoil the ending, but it's a hard-knock life.

1. Dr. Tenma (Monster)
The unquestioned king of failed karma is Dr. Kenzo Tenma, who shuffles his surgery schedule to help a young boy with a bullet in his head, resulting in the death of a hospital donor. Tenma loses his job prospects and his fiancée. Then those involved in his career downfall turn up dead. Tenma moves on with his life...only to learn later that the boy he nearly lost everything in order to save, Johan, is in fact a serial killer, manipulator, and all-around scary dude running amock throughout Europe. Horrified that his decision cost so many lives in the long run, Tenma vows to make it right by killing Johan, which only draws him into the greater conspiracy (and makes him even more of a murder suspect).

Each list is accompanied by a new reader poll, as well as the results from last week's poll.

The new poll:
A new anime season has begun, and we want to know what you're digging so far! Take a look at our spotlight and read up on all the upcoming shows, then vote on the one you're enjoying or looking forward to the most!

The previous poll:

Last time we asked you which anime character you'd hire to help around the house...for better or worse. A surprising number of you— about 32% —were willing to sell your soul to the devil for the services of Black Butler's Sebastian Michaelis, who, it must be admitted, is a pretty awe-inspiring butler. Meanwhile, Hayate the Combat Butler's Hayate Ayasaki, whose worst baggage is that people tend to fall for him, took second with about 14%, and crazed former terrorist turned maid Roberta took third with around 11%. Here's the full list of results:

They're still showing 35mm prints of Ghibli classics like Princess Mononoke in some revival theaters - but what's so special about 35mm? Justin has some thoughts.― David asked: Hi! I've noticed that several art house theaters in the NY metro area have started showing 35mm version of Ghibli classics like Mononoke and Nausicaa. is there any real benefit to seeing these over the "regular versions" mor...

From She and Her Cat to Your Name., Anne Lauenroth ranks all of Makoto Shinkai's projects from top to bottom. What are your favorite creations by this distinctive director?― Why do we wake up crying from a dream we've already begun to forget? Why does the feeling of loss linger after the memory of that dream has faded to a vague feeling of something that should be there but isn't? How can we long f...

Corpse Party's conclusion diverges more from the game than ever before, but disappoints as a horror story. Rebecca Silverman explains what went wrong.― These volumes, according to creators Toshimi Shinomiya and Makoto Kedouin, are where the manga adaptation of Corpse Party: Blood Covered really diverges from its game original. By this point the cast is most cut back down to its first game characters...

Recovery of an MMO Junkie has been a wild ride, but it's finally time for Moriko and Sakurai to start a new chapter together. We speculate on the next horizon for this nerdy couple.― Recovery of an MMO Junkie has been a wild ride, but it's finally time for Moriko and Sakurai to start a new chapter together. This week in anime, Michelle and Steve speculate what lies on the horizon for this nerdy coup...

Magical girls get a military makeover in this dark take on the genre. Rebecca Silverman has the details.― What do you think has been lacking from dark magical girl reboots? If you said “big ass guns and crippling PTSD,” then Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka might be the series for you! While the concept of the dark magical girl story is hardly new – those who remember the final moments of the last Nur...

The C3 Anime Festival Asia Singapore holds the crown as the biggest anime festival in Asia outside of Japan. The con celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and was attended by over 96,000 people. This year's events featured no major changes from the previous ones, but why fix what isn't broken? Notably, 2017's guest lineup included the main staff of Violet Evergarden, which was part of the con...

We frequently hear about how in Western animation, performances are often taped before animation really starts - but the opposite is apparently true in Japan. Justin gets into it.― James asked: Some time ago, you stated that one of the major differences between western animation and Japanese animation is that, in western animation, all dialogue is recorded first, and then the animation is done to m...

Paul gets into the recent film remake of this gearhead classic, along with all this week's new anime releases!― I really liked the ending of Recovery of an MMO Junkie this week, but now I'm starting to realize that the early finale means I'll have to get through the rest of the season without it. You know a series is good when the thought of not having new episodes to watch makes you feel a little ...

One of the most beloved shojo anime of all time comes to Blu-ray in this "sweet sixteen" special edition set! Rebecca Silverman looks back on how this heartwarming classic has held up sixteen years later.― Back when it was first released, Fruits Basket, based on the manga of the same name by Natsuki Takaya, was a sensation. Combining elements of fantasy, slice-of-life, and reverse harem romance come...

Mike devours a few episodes of the genre-smashing French action cartoon Lastman and wonders - is this anime?― Earlier this year I was at the Crunchyroll Expo, where I hosted a bunch of discussion panels and presented a couple of my own. The homogenous look and omnipresent Crunchyroll branding took some getting used to, but it was ultimately an energetic and well-run show, a deft mix of the stuff I l...

My Monster Secret’s sixth volume maintains its madcap romcom appeal in spite of some predictably glacial pacing. Nick Creamer has the details.― At last, it's time for action. As My Monster Secret's sixth volume opens, our hero Asahi reiterates his determination to actually confess to his vampiric classmate Shiragami. Having been spurred into action by the courage of his childhood friend Mikan, he's ...